Written by

Quartz Staff

October 21, 2013

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Written by

Quartz Staff

October 21, 2013

What to watch for today

Merkel’s dance continues. Germany’s opposition Social Democrats set out their conditions of joining a coalition government under chancellor Angela Merkel. Their wish list—likely subject to weeks of negotiations—includes a statutory minimum wage and dual citizenship for immigrants.

Mexico condemned US snooping. Documents leaked by Edward Snowden claim the US accessed former Mexican president Felipe Calderon’s email; Mexico called the practice “unacceptable” and “illegitimate.”

Japanese exports slowed. September data showed exports increased 11.5% from a year earlier, which was less than expected. A weaker Yen may not be be enough to make up for decreased emerging market demand.

Malaysia’s PM was weakened, but won. In important party elections, Najib Razak remained in control of his United Malays National Organization party, but his allies were pushed hard by conservatives.

AT&T’s tower deal. The company is leasing or selling rights to 9,700 of its wireless towers to Crown Castle for $4.85 billion to generate cash for a stock buy-back to revamp its cellular setup and fund acquisitions.

Is BofA next? The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, wants Bank of America to pay more than $6 billion for alleged securities law violations, the Financial Times reports.

Alan Greenspan’s blame game. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the former US Federal Reserve chairman said easy money under his tenure “had absolutely nothing to do with the housing bubble. That’s ridiculous.”

Todd Woody on how you shouldn’t write Big Solar off yet. “There are currently 36,794 MW worth of projects under development in the US. SNL expects a building boom over the next two years with more than half of that solar coming online to qualify for a 30% federal tax credit that is set to fall to 10% by the end of 2016.” Read more here.

Matters of debate

Don’t forget India’s good men. Stories of male violence are much in the news, but the vast majority of men in India are “committed, concerned, cautious,” and family-focused.

Stop calling the Tea Party stupid. It will only embolden them. “Most of the Obama crowd has more in common with bike-sharing Europeans than small-town Americans.”

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